CITY OF PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY
2013 ANNUAL REPORT
The Water Pollution Control Facility receives and treats both municipal and industrial
wastewater. The facility treats wastewater flows generated within the City of Portage la
Prairie; as well as from the Southport, Peony Farm, Saskatchewan Avenue West,
Richardson Oats, and Poplar Bluff Industrial Park areas of the Rural Municipality; and
from Long Plain Reserve. McCain Foods Ltd., Simplot Canada Ltd., and Nutri-Pea Foods
Ltd. comprise the three industrial sources that account for 55% of total flow to the facility.
Wastewater is pumped sequentially into four secondary treatment aeration basins. Each
basin will cycle through timed stages of fill, aeration, and settle and the treated water is
disinfected by Ultraviolet light and then discharged into the Assiniboine River.
Plant Performance
The total flow received at the facility in 2013 was 5,530,000 cubic meters. This is compared to a
flow of 4,305,000 cubic meters in 2012- which equates to an increase of 29%.
The City of Portage la Prairie has an environmental license issued by Manitoba Conservation
that limits various parameters that are discharged into the Assiniboine River through the
discharged effluent. The average total suspended solids discharged were 13.4 mg/L with a
maximum peak of 706 mg/L. The license limit is 30 mg/L. The average Biological Oxygen
Demand was 3 mg/L with a limit of 30 mg/L. Maximum BOD was 16.5 mg/L. Coliform limits
are calculated as a 30-day average. The highest monthly average was in July. Total coliform was
7337 CFU/100 mL and Fecal coliform was 7336 CFU/100 mL. The lowest monthly average was
in October with Total Coliform reported at3.57 CFU/100 mL and fecal coliform reported at 3.14
CFU/100 mL. The environmental license limits for total and fecal coliforms are 1500 and 100
CFU/100 mL, respectively. The average Ammonia load was 8.0 kg/day with a daily maximum
of 204 kg/day. The license limits for the amount of ammonia permitted to be discharged varies
each month with August having the lowest limit of 129.6 kg/day. In August, WPCF discharged
an average of 4.68kg/day.
Operations Issues
Several major incidents affected the operation of the facility over 2013. In the early months,
prolonged high solids and organic loadings from the on-site Industrial Pre-treatment System
(BVF) put immense strain on the SBR basins. This flow also contained a large volume of
unsettleable solids that are difficult to treat. This caused an increase in the amount of solids
discharged from the facility and accounts for exceedence of the Manitoba Conservation
Environment License on February 23rd and February 25th. This became an issue again in May
when the Total suspended solids limit of 30 mg/l was exceeded on 10 days.
On Sunday, July 21st, lightning struck the odour control stack causing the main control system to
malfunction as well as shorting out the alarm panel, phone system and several computer
components. Due to the alarm panel being affected, the on-call staff was not notified of any
operational problems. For a 12 hour period, incoming flows were discharged directly out of the
basins without receiving any treatment. Once the problem was discovered, operations and
maintenance staff worked diligently to restore the plant to regular operations. For over 3 days, 24
hour staffing was required to manually operate the facility until new computer equipment was
installed. The total suspended solids limit was exceeded on July 21st and 22nd.
For the next several weeks, several storms continued to impact the electrical system at the
wastewater treatment plant. On August 18th, the outfall pumps were tripped off during a power
bump. A high-level alarm was received and the operator responded to find treated effluent
pooling on the grounds after the UV Building. Proper protocol for clean-up and reporting was
followed. Follow-up testing confirmed that as the water had passed through all steps of
treatment, there was no reason to believe untreated wastewater had spilled.
On August 29th, power surges due to another storm caused computer control communication to
be lost between the Control Room PLC and the rest of the facility. Manual control was resumed
to maintain treatment. Electrical events occurred again on September 5th and September 19th
both requiring manual control until equipment was repaired. Future repairs to the communication
line will need to be completed as well as surge protection.
On December 13th the SBR Pumping station flooded as a result of a faulty low level float.
Untreated wastewater flowed into the parking lot. Due to the extreme cold temperatures, the
water froze immediately and was able to be scrapped up for disposal in the lagoon. Manitoba
Conservation issued an emergency response order and all items were completed.
On December 22nd, an intricate diversion of flow was required to allow for contractors to install
two valves for the new SBR Pumping Station. For a 9 hour period, industrial flows were stopped
and municipal flow was diverted and collected into the onsite Industrial Pre-treatment system, in
an effort to prevent any flow of wastewater into the existing SBR pumping station. Activities
leading up to and including this day required a well coordinated effort between staff from City of
Portage Waterworks, WPCF Operations and WPCF maintenance departments, Simplot Canada
Ltd, McCain Foods Ltd, and Nutri-Pea Ltd. as well Parkwest and Maple Leaf Construction
crews.
On December 23rd, following a construction shut-down the influent valve for basin #1 became so
cold that it failed to open causing the water level in the SBR lift station to flood into the dry
chamber. The operator was able to respond before any wastewater was released onto the
property. The Operator was able to open the valve manually. During this same time period,
power to the office area, control room, odour control, and lab was lost due to a malfunctioning
main power breaker. The breaker was replaced and power was restored on the morning of
December 24th. No loss of treatment or damage from freezing occurred.
Pump Stations
The City of Portage la Prairie operates and maintains twelve pumping stations throughout the
city. These stations collect and pump wastewater to the treatment facility. Throughout 2013,
several minor incidents occurred, however none resulted in flooding or back-up of flow. Three
power outages throughout the year caused power to be lost at one or more lift stations. In each
incident, power was either restored or a back- up power was connected to ensure no loss of
service. In each instance, septage disposal trucks responded to ensure stations did not flood. On
August 21, a fiber optic line in Ontario had been cut causing several stations to be without alarm
service- regular checks were made all major pump stations until phone service was restored.
Biosolids Land Application
Biosolids are the residual solids resulting from secondary treatment of municipal wastewater and
effluent from the primary treatment of industrial wastewater. These residual solids are applied to
agricultural land as a fertilizer and soil amendment.
In the spring, 241.53 dry tonnes of biosolids was applied to agricultural land. The fall program
required 818.05 dry tonnes to be applied. The total tonnage of biosolids applied for 2013 was
1059.58 tonnes.
Facilities Classifications and Operator Certification Levels
The Province of Manitoba requires operators and lift station maintenance staff to be certified
according to the classification of the facility. Certification is obtained through experience,
examination and continuing education credits. The Water Pollution Control Facility is deemed
class 4. The operations foreman and two of the four Operators are unconditionally certified at
level four and two operators are unconditionally certified at level three.
The Wastewater Collections system is deemed class 2. The Facility Maintenance foreman is
certified at level 2. One lift station maintenance staff is certified at level 1 in collections and
distribution and the second maintenance staff is working towards writing the level one exam.
The goal is to have all Operators certified to the level of the facilities they operate.
Regulatory Issues
Nutrient Reduction
The Province has given notice that Portage la Prairie will have to remove nitrogen and
phosphorous (nutrients) from our final effluent by January 1, 2016; however, a request for a one
year extension was made. A plan for the Reduction strategy for the City of Portage was
submitted to Manitoba Conservation as of January 31, 2013.
Preliminary Engineering studies (ongoing)
Pilot scale testing has started for Industrial wastewater preliminary Nitrogen removal with a pilot
for Phosphorous reduction to commence in the spring of 2014. Once the results of the pilot
projects have been analyzed, a more functional process design can be developed. Further
discussion with industry will be required as well.
Odour
A reoccurring concern is the odourous gas being emitted from the onsite Industrial Pre-treatment
facility, which is operated by McCain Foods Lt. Several recommendations have been made to the
operations team for permanent solutions. City of Portage la Prairie staff request daily to weekly
requests to McCain operators to check the system for displaced caps from sample ports that
allow the gas to escape. Odour is a component of the City of Portage environmental license
however, in order for Manitoba Conservation to enforce this portion, three written complaintsfrom three different sources, must be received to their department.
Capital Expenditures
The concrete walls and floor in the grit removal chamber had corroded and was in need of
restoration. The work was completed in October.
Roof repairs were completed on the penthouse portion of the main building as well as on the UV
building.
The construction of the new SBR Pumping Station began in November. Municipal and industrial
flows combine in the SBR Pump station and are then conveyed into the SBR basins for
treatment. This is an integral part of the system. The current pumping station has corroded pipes,
inoperable valves, and concrete that has been extensively corroded due to highly corrosive gases.
It was not possible to repair the current station and still receive flow. It is expected that the new
SBR Pump Station will be completed by May of 2014. This project was advanced due to the
deteriorating condition of the pump station and the elevated risk of failure.
FINAL EFFLUENT FECAL COLIFORM DATA
225
430 mg/L- decrease in SBR temperature-
-430 mg/L- BVF Upset
200
->110000mg/L- Lightning strike
CFU (per 100 ml)
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
FIN EFF (FEC)
LIMIT
FINAL EFFLUENT TOTAL COLIFORM DATA
1800
->110000mg/L- Lightning strike
CFU (per 100 ml)
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
FIN EFF (TOT)
LIMIT
COLIFORM YEAR TO DATE ANALYSIS
FECAL COLIFORM ANALYSIS (FEC)
TOTAL COLIFORM ANALYSIS (TOT)
TOTAL ANALYZED
158
TOTAL ANALYZED
158
GEOMEANS
3.7
GEOMEANS
4.4
FINAL EFFLUENT BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND DATA
35
Concentration (mg/L)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
FIN EFF
FINAL EFFLUENT TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS DATA
60
Concentration (mg/L)
LIMIT
BVF Upset- unsettleable
fines in SBRs
-706 mg/L- Lightning strike
50
40
30
20
10
0
FIN EFF SS
LIMIT
YEAR TO DATE ANALYSIS RESULTS
FIN EFFBOD DATA
TOT. #FAILURES
0
TOT. SAMPLES ANALYZED
134
PERCENT FAILURE
0.00%
SS ANALYSIS
TOT. #FAILURES
TOT. SAMPS ANALYZED
PERCENT FAILURE
21
365
5.75%
Concentration (mg/L)
FINAL EFFLUENT TOTAL PHOSPHORUS DATA
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
FINAL EFFLUENT NITRATE-NITRITE DATA
120
Concentration (mg/L)
100
80
60
40
20
0
FIN EFF N3-2
YEAR TO DATE ANALYSIS RESULTS
TP
DATA
TOT. #FAILURES
TOT. SAMPLES ANALYZED
0
78
N3-2 ANALYSIS
TOT. #FAILURES
TOT. SAMPS ANALYZED
0
78
0.100
0.050
0.000
FINAL EFFLUENT TOTAL AMMONIA DATA
LOADING (kg/Day)
Concentration (mg/L)
FINAL EFFLUENT PHENOL DATA
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
FIN EFF NH4
YEAR TO DATE ANALYSIS RESULTS
PHENOL ANALYSIS
TOT. #FAILURES
TOT. SAMPS ANALYZED
0
78
LIMIT
AMMONIA ANALYSIS
TOT. #FAILURES
TOT. SAMPS ANALYZED
PERCENT FAILURE
0
100
0.00%
SBR Total Phosphous Load- Influent vs. Effluent
700
600
TP Load- kg/day
500
400
300
200
100
Total P- SBR Influent
Total P- SBR Effluent
SBR Total Nitrogen Load- Influent vs. Effluent
4000
3500
TN Load- kg/day
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Total N- SBR Influent
Total N- SBR Effluent
12/17/2013
11/22/2013
10/28/2013
10/3/2013
9/8/2013
8/14/2013
7/20/2013
6/25/2013
5/31/2013
5/6/2013
4/11/2013
3/17/2013
2/20/2013
1/26/2013
1/1/2013
0
SBR Influent Flow
30
SBR Ifnluent Flow (ML/Day)
25
20
15
10
5
0